Rough and Ready (More Than A Cowboy #2) - Vanessa Vale Page 0,27

a chance. “From what you made me feel? Definitely.”

“You don’t like coming so hard you cry out?”

I felt my cheeks heat, and I groaned with embarrassment.

“Reed,” I said, pleading with him to stop with just his name.

“That’s not how you said it the other night.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re terrible.”

I heard him laugh, too. “I figured you’d say I was really, really good.”

“You’re really sure of yourself.”

“I bet I could make you do it again.”

I slid further down in bed, rubbed my thighs together. My pussy ached because he was right. Because I remembered how good it felt when he’d touched me. I had no doubt he could do it again. “Too bad I’m so far away,” I replied.

“Princess, you doubt my skill?” I remained quiet. “Are you in bed?”

“Yes.”

I heard his groan through the phone. “What are you wearing?”

“Reed,” I said again, slightly stunned but mostly aroused. How could just his voice from thousands of miles away make me feel needy? “I’m not telling you that.”

“You sleep naked, don’t you?”

I huffed out a small laugh. “I am not answering that.”

“That means yes. Christ, I’m hard just thinking about it.”

And that made me wet. Knowing I turned him on made me feel good. Good in a way I hadn’t in a long time. But I wasn’t ready for this, for him. He’d overwhelmed me the other night. He was overwhelming me now with just his… niceness. “I’m not having phone sex with you.”

“Okay.” His one word was even, calm.

I stilled, realizing he wasn’t pushing, wasn’t making me do something I didn’t want to do. Well, I did want to do it. I wanted to do it really, really badly, but it was just as clinical as it would have been fucking Larry.

Still, he took my no as just that. No.

“But princess, remember what I said before. If you need to come, I’ll give it to you. Even from far away. Don’t go seeing the Englishman you have over there.”

I stiffened, my fingers gripping the phone. “I don’t know what you’re—”

“Harper. I don’t give a shit what you’ve done in the past, hell, who you’ve done in the past. Do I wish no one’s had their hands on you before? Of course. But I won’t be an asshole when I’ve got a past, too. I don’t let that matter, and I won’t let what you’ve done matter either. But I’ll give you what you need now and keep you safe doing it.”

He could see too much. He couldn’t really know about Giles—he hadn’t even known I was out of the country—but he’d seen me with Larry. Knew what I was going to do with him, how it hadn’t meant anything, just a chance for me to forget for a few minutes. Reed had seen it in the stairwell, knew I’d probably have someone here in the UK, too. I didn’t want to tell him he was right. I wasn’t ready for it, even though I’d broken down on his lap. Gave me a release, in a way almost better than an orgasm.

I didn’t know how to respond without revealing any more of me, so I ended the call without saying anything at all.

11

REED

After tossing the cell onto the passenger seat, I closed my eyes, wrapped my fingers around the steering wheel. I was parked across the street from where I grew up in the shitty part of town. The house was gutted. The windows had been shattered on the second floor, the lower ones covered in warped wood with graffiti sprayed on it. The brick facade was chipped and starting to collapse. It was too dark to see the smoke damage, but I knew it was there. The houses on either side were vacant and abandoned, too. Hell, almost every one on the street gutted.

All was quiet, but that was deceiving. Steam rose from the manhole covers, proving it was too cold to be outside, even for the rats that usually darted out to find food. Not that anyone smart would be walking the streets in this part of town after the sun went down. It wasn’t a safe place. No, it was rough like me. One had to be ready for anything here. Rough and ready, that was me. Old cars lined both sides of the road, the street lamp was blown out in the center of the block, and I had to wonder if it was a new development or if the city crew refused to come here